An inappropriate call to “The Response” by Governor Perry

After all that has been said about the event known as “The Response” that is scheduled for Reliant Stadium this weekend, it is not easy to think of anything new, but since many people haven’t gotten the message, some things are worth repeating.

The First Amendment to our great constitution declares that religion and government are, to use the Texas vernacular, not supposed to mess with each other.

When I think about the appropriate relationship between religion and government, I always return to the two men who, more than any others, shaped a system, at the time unique, whose guarantee of religious freedom for its people rested on the act that the government was ordained not by God but by “We the People of the United States” and was intended to be secular in nature. Those men, of course, were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Jefferson
Jefferson regarded his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, passed by the Virginia Assembly in 1786, as one of the finest accomplishments of his life.

In that bill, Jefferson contended that “The magistrate should not enter into the field of religious opinion, but should interfere only when religions violate the public peace.”

By co-sponsoring an explicitly Christian prayer event, using resources of his office to do so, Governor Perry has violated that principle.

After some Virginia assemblymen tried to insert an acknowledgment of Jesus Christ into Jefferson’s bill, Jefferson was pleased that “the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan, the Hindoo, the infidel of every denomination.” (From his autobiography)

By making it clear that this is an event for Christians only (a “Christian prayer meeting” according to the event website) and the fact that it is co-sponsored by the American Family Association and others of like spirit, Governor Perry has drawn the mantle of protection far more tightly than Jefferson saw as appropriate.

In 1802, as president, Jefferson wrote his famous letter to the Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association, in which he cited the First Amendment of the Constitution, saying that it had built “a wall of separation between Church and State.” He noted that this was why he did not “proclaim fastings and thanksgivings, as my predecessors did” and, in the original draft of the letter, which you can read on the web, why he had refrained “from prescribing even occasional performances of devotion.”

Madison
James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, was concerned that government support of religion would lead inevitably to the corruption and weakening of religion itself. Fifteen centuries of governmental entanglement with Christianity had made clear that neither institution benefited from the relationship. (Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments)

Given the widespread and strongly negative reaction to tomorrow’s event, can anyone reasonably claim that Christianity or religion in general has benefited?

As president during the War of 1812, Madison gave in to pressure to proclaim a national day of prayer and fasting for those “so disposed” to ask for God’s assistance in the war. Later, however, he wrote a document [“Detached Memoranda”] listing five reasons why he had been wrong to do so. Among those, he noted that: “members of a Government as such can in no sense be regarded as possessing an advisory trust from their Constituents in their religious capacities.” They have no business calling people to prayer. He mentioned “the tendency of the practice to narrow the recommendation to the standard of the predominant sect.”

In the case of tomorrow’s event, that predominant sect comprises not just Christians, but a distinctive segment of Christians not famous for their broad spirit.

Madison acknowledged that, “In their individual capacities, as distinct from their official station, officials were free to recommend religious practice….But then their recommendations ought to express the true character from which they emanate.”

This would mean that, even if Governor Perry had not used the tools of his office to promote this event, he should have given no thought whatever to possible political gain from his sponsorship.

Madison would have thought that unlikely, noting “the liability of the practice to a subserviency to political views; to the scandal of religion, as well as the increase of party animosities…..In truth it is difficult to frame such a religious proclamation….without referring to them in terms having some bearing on party questions.”

Clearly, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison would disapprove of Governor Perry’s sponsorship of this event. That might not trouble the governor, his co-sponsors, or the people who will gather at Reliant Stadium. But even if no government official were involved and no political motive suspected, the very idea of drawing national attention to one’s prayer will surely offend people who interpret the Bible literally.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explicitly told his followers,

“[W]hen you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen of men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6)

I wonder if Governor Perry and those who arrange, promote and applaud such events as this think Jesus didn’t really say this — or that he didn’t mean it, or perhaps he just didn’t realize how satisfying it is to be “seen of men” while praying? In any case, by parading their piety, they have their reward.

William Martin, Ph.D., is the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute and the Chavanne Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Rice University.